A Gamer Guide to Battling the Summer Doldrums

The World Cyber Games

The World Cyber Games (WCG) is an international e-sports event put on by the Korean company World Cyber Games Inc. and backed by computer and consumer electronics giant Samsung and gaming and software behemoth Microsoft.

The event is influenced by the traditional Olympic Games, and it takes place in a different city each year, and at a different time each year -- so you will want to check the schedule to see when it will be happening during the Summer Doldrums if you want to use it as your boredom-battling holiday destination!

You probably know that most major cruise ships have casinos on board that, once the ship has reached International Waters, open up so that you can lose... err... Win... Gamble! What you may not know is that the travel industry and cruise lines are hip to gaming!

In the past few years a new type of targeted holiday experience has been added to the cruisers catalog -- and now that the satellite networking blokes have managed to get the low-orbit internet array functioning with acceptable levels of latency, most of the larger cruise ships have full-time high-speed Internet connections that allow gamers to play their MMO of preference without the experience being a bad one.

As a result in addition to the theme-based gamers cruises like a recent war-gaming cruise that featured a certain shooter whose initials are COD, gamers can now battle their way between ports of call, then hop off of the boat to do the tourist thing, thus making their SO happy, their kids happy, and still being able to indulge their need for gaming goodness!

The National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers does a cruise to the Bermuda Triangle for gamers and video game fans that you may want to look into... If you dare! Mwahahahaha!

The Shooting Holiday

Are you a fan of first-person and third-person shooters? Are war games your thing? Are you convinced that Area 51 is just ONE of the secret government research areas in the desert near Vegas? Does the idea of living the thrill of your favorite shooter -- minus the whole getting shot at part -- sound attractive to you? Well then we just may have the perfect holiday destination for you: Las Vegas, Nevada.

No no, seriously, read on and you will start to get the idea, we promise you!

-- We will start with some shooting --

When Bob Irwin bought out the owners of The Survival Store East -- a shooting range in Las Vegas -- and turned it into The Gun Store -- he did it with the idea not of owning his own shooting range or gun store, but of creating the premiere Firearm Entertainment Destination in the west. You read that correctly!

In 2004 Bob's son Chris came on board and together they made huge strides in realizing Bob's Dream -- through a combination of his experience and firearm wisdom and his son's innovative thinking and unique vision they created what many gamers call a real life shooter's Disneyland.

Oh, there are package deals that you can buy if you are just looking for the "experience" of shooting the military version of popular weapons in full-auto and select fire (Burst) modes -- and they each even come with the T-Shirt (no kidding, they each come with a T-Shirt), examples of which include:

THE GUN STORE CHOICE -- $99.95

-- 75 Rounds of 9mm Ammo and an H&K MP5 SMG

-- 20 Rounds of Ammo and a SIG P226 Pistol

-- 2 Targets of your choice (Silhouettes are always popular)

-- 1 T-Shirt!

THE WORLD WAR II -- $119.95

-- 50 Round sof .45 Cal. Ammo and a Thompson SMG

-- 25 Rounds of 9mm Ammo and an MP40 SMG

-- 20 Rounds of .45 Cal. Ammo and a Colt Model 1911 Automatic Pistol

-- 3 Targets

-- 1 T-Shirt

THE COALITION -- $129.95

-- 40 Rounds of Ammo for your M249 SAW

-- 25 Rounds for your M4

-- 20 Rounds for your M9 Automatic Pistol

-- 3 Targets

-- 1 T-Shirt

Zombie Package -- $149.95

-- 50 Rounds of 9mm Ammo for your UZI SMG

-- 20 Rounds for your HK33

-- 20 Rounds for your Cold Model 1911 Automatic

-- 5 Rounds of Shotgun Ammo to help remove heads

-- 4 Zombie Targets

-- 1 T-Shirt

Custom Shooter Packages

In addition to the packages laid out above, there are a variety of custom packages available, including one for the kids (it features a variety of .22 Cal. weapons), one for the Ladies (Pink or Black versions of handguns of a size suited for smaller hands, including the Glock 19 and Beretta CX4, and the girl-friendly AK-47 and ArmaLite AR-15).

A partial list of the firearms available for rental includes:

Submachine Gun (SMG) Category

-- Beretta CX4 (9mm)

-- Enfield/BSA 'Sten' (9mm)

-- Erma Werke MP-40 (9MM)

-- Fábrica de Braço de Prata FBP (9mm)

-- General Motors M3 'Grease Gun' (.45)

-- Heckler & Koch MP5 (9mm)

-- Israel Military Industries / FN Herstal Uzi (9mm)

-- Madsen M1950 (9mm)

-- Thompson (.45)

Machine Gun (MG) Category

-- ArmaLite AR-15 (.223 Cal. / 5.56mm)

-- Colt Model M4 (.223 Cal.)

-- Fabrique Nationale de Herstal M249 SAW (.223 Cal.)

-- HK G3 (.308 Cal.)

-- HK G36 (.223 Cal. / 5.56mm)

-- Izhmash Model AK47 (7.62x39 / .223 Cal.)

-- Sig Sauer 556 (.223 Cal. / 5.56mm)

-- Steyr Aug (.223 Cal. / 5.56mm)

-- Suomi M31 Assault Rifle (9mm)

Sidearm Category

-- Beretta M9 (9mm)

-- Colt Model 1911 Government Auto (.45 ACP)

-- Fabrique Nationale de Herstal FN-P9 (9mm)

-- Glock 17 (9mm)

-- Magnum Research Inc. Desert Eagle (.44 Magnum)

-- Ruger MK III (.22 LR)

-- Ruger P95 (9mm)

-- Ruger SR9 (9mm)

-- Sig Sauer P220 (.45 ACP)

-- Smith & Wesson Model 29 'Dirty Harry' (.44 Magnum)

-- Springfield XDM9 (9mm)

Special Weapons Category

-- Benelli M4 (12 Gauge)

-- Remington Model 879 (12 Gauge)

-- Remington Pump (12 Gauge)

So there you have it -- pick the weapons from your favorite shooter, buy a stack of ammo and learn what it feels like to shoot the real deal -- just remember the average cost to fire one clip of an Uzi is around $35. We're just saying...

Game Tours

This is only for the seriously hard core and gamers who have already experienced all of the other holidays for gamers -- and it doesn't hurt to be really wealthy either...

-- Tour Chernobyl: Well, technically you would be touring Pripyat, which is the ghost town nearby that was featured in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in the Special Ops the level "Hidden" and in Call of Duty: Black Ops in the multiplayer map Grid, but is perhaps best known for the level in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare that takes place in the main square and the amusement park. Then there is the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and its sequel S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat which both feature the city.

Posted: 6th Jul 2011 by CMBF
Tags: Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, PC,